Lemon Thyme Whiskey Sour

 

thyme is by far my favourite herb, and among that my favourite type is lemon thyme. the lovely citrusy notes to the earthy sweet herbal qualities make it great for cooking, baking and infusing into cocktails. like this infused simple syrup, its so easy to do. the syrup will keep for months refrigerated in a clean sealed jar.

 

I encourage you to seek out lemon thyme at your garden centre, just one sniff of this herb well sell you on buying two plants, mine has been used down to a little nub! I hope it grows back for more of this cocktail lover approved tipple! my syrup only lasted a week with my friends, better double up when the plant rejuvenates! this whiskey sour is great for summer barbecues or all night drinking sessions.

 

naturally one is enough but three is always better!

 

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Lemon Thyme Whiskey Sour
Makes 1

inspired by: The Seasonal Cocktail Companion: 100 recipes and projects for 4 seasons of drinking, by Maggie Savarino. a pricelessly inventive cocktail book!

2 measures Whiskey, your preference, I love Bushmills
1 measure Lemon Juice
1 measure Lemon Thyme Syrup (recipe follows)

for Lemon Thyme Syrup:

3/4 cups (180gm) white sugar
1 cup (240ml) water
1 good fistful lemon thyme or thyme

• using a mortar and pestle crush the thyme with a little sugar, or bruise with your fingers
• place all ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to boil stirring occasionally
• let cool and strain out thyme
• store in a sealed jar in the fridge for 1-2 months

for drink:

• place all ingredients into a large jar or cocktail shaker with a good amount of ice
• shake or stir until well chilled
• strain into a glass tumbler or cocktail glass filled with ice
• garnish with thyme sprig or thyme flowers and a cocktail cherry

the creative process

 

Gooseberry Elderflower Pie

 

Last week was a glorious week of balmy summer weather. the gooseberry bush (that we adopted with the house) was heaving with bright green fruits. screaming: "hey, pick me! don't forget about me like last year!" the big question was: what do you do with all those gooseberries? gooseberry fool pops into everyone's mind but, what else? after browsing my Bookshelf, I came across recipes for savoury uses like, a sauce for pork or mackerel, and sweet ones like: a pie, jam or chutney. the pie recipe jumped out at me, as well as a seasonal pairing of elderflowers. its that time of year too! bring on the elderflower champagne! 

Violet Syrup

the 'dog violet'

after recently bumping into a recipe online for violet syrup (see the 'life's a lasagne' blog, here), I gave it a go myself. there's quite a few clumps of violets growing in the hedges around my garden so I didn't have to travel too far. If you are planning on making this recipe it does take quite a lot of flower to make 1 cup (240ml) of syrup.

 

if only for the colour itself it's worth making this vibrant syrup. it's apparently that's what I made it for too. I found out after smelling my syrup that it didn't smell much of violets at all! I discovered the violets I used were 'dog violets' which don't really smell at all. oops! the fragrant variety is called 'sweet violet' and bears a yellow centre. that's the violet to use for this recipe, so I did the leg work for you! now you know.

 

i'm planning on devising a cocktail with my syrup so stay tuned for the follow up post to this one. possibly a violet prosecco cocktail? I mean, whats better than after a good day in the garden than a refreshing drink? a partially foraged one.

Lemon Geranium Custard Cream

Lemon Geranium Pelargonium crispum

 this is my new favourite dessert or dessert accompaniment. it brings the unexpected geranium leaf into the kitchen and not just the window sill, the flavour remains lemony familiar but with a hint of the exotic.

my lemon geranium plant was given to me as a cutting from my friends plant, earlier this year. i had seen a recipe for rose geranium cream in the cookbook: Tartine, from the now famous Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. the recipe itself got me thinking, why not lemon geranium as a substite? im not suoer wild about heavy rose flavours in my desserts anyway. the result was an exciting flavour reminiscent of a lemony turkish delight. its great alongside any sponge cake or as a filling for tarts.

hot milk steeping with geranium leaves

Pumpkin Fudge

i've still got one medium sized pumpkin in the kitchen from this fall's harvest. after awhile pondering what i might make with it, i recalled a particular recipe for Parsnip Vanilla Fudge from the book: Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache, by Harry Eastwood. the book specializes in cakes made with vegetables and low fat, usually wheat free recipes. and guess what? the recipes work! which is great for  gluten free cooking enthusiasts, especially when every recipe uses veg in some way. for those of you used to gluten free baking: you may know some recipes have a tendency to be 'bricklike' and dry. but the clever addition of grated vegetables in Harry's recipes yield moist and light baking.

you don't need much pumpkin for this recipe, so count on making a nice pumpkin curry afterwards.



 

 the authour has a whimsical way of writing recipes, refering to cakes and their individual personalities like they are a part of a story book. which can hit hard on the annoying scale, but if you can over look this then, you are well on your way to exciting baking. the book is well worth the shelf space.